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COFFEE AND TEA. 



COFFEE AND TEA 


A LECTURE 

GIVEN AT 

THE PARKES MUSEUM gi 

ON 

December 6th, 1883 

WITH A CHART SHOWING THE STATE OF THE COFFEE TRADE FOR THIRTY YEARS. 


' sJ'*' 

G: V. POORE, M.D., Etc. 

• • __ _ . 7 7 

VICE-CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL OF THE PARKES MUSEUM. 






LONDON 

H. K. LEWIS, 136 GOWER STREET, W.C. 

1883 


%j tra.ncf® r frorm 
Pat. Office Lib. 
April 1914. 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


It is not my intention to give a teetotal lecture, and 
if I occupy your time for the next hour with a dis¬ 
course on Coffee and Tea, you must not assume that 
I am therefore not grateful for Grapes, and Barley, 
and Hops. 

Coffee and Tea are undoubtedly the rivals of alco¬ 
holic drinks, but my belief is that both have their 
uses, and that a properly controlled appetite or 
instinct, is as safe a guide in the matters of diet, as a 
physiologist or a moralist. The development of our 
minds and bodies is due in great measure to the food 
we take. Man’s advance from Ape to Philosopher is 
attributable, in part at least, to the wide-range of 
his diet, and the ability which he has to obey the 
strange cravings and appetites which are within him. 
That men should become slaves to their appetites is 
to be deprecated, and a man who yields unduly to 
appetite ma'y merit punishment; but we ought to be 
very sure of our ground before we attempt to suppress 
appetite by Dogma. This was done by Mohammed 
twelve centuries ago, and the result is worthy of a 
careful study. 

Articles of Diet naturally fall into two great 
classes, Food and Drink. 


B 



2 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


The main object of Drink is to maintain the proper 
amount of fluidity of the blood, and what we call thirst 
is as it were the cry of the blood for water. 

For the mere allaying of thirst, water is the best of 
all drinks, and must be regarded as the typical 
beverage. The weight, density, or specific gravity of 
water is taken as a standard. It is, one need not 
say, heavier than some and lighter than other liquids, 
and its specific gravity is arbitrarily made the unit, and 
is conveniently spoken of as 1000. Water taken into 
the stomach, requires no digestive effort, it is quickly 
absorbed, and dilutes the blood without delay. 

When solid matters are mixed with or dissolved in 
water, the water becomes a liquid food rather than 
a pure beverage. Some foods which are taken in 
the liquid form require considerable digestive effort. 
Milk is one of these, and there can be no greater mis¬ 
take than to take milk as if it were a beverage and 
not a food. This is often done now-a-days with the 
result that the stomach is over-taxed and the blood 
overcharged. Milk has a specific gravity of about 
1030, and when it reaches the stomach it is first 
clotted and then slowly digested. 

In proportion as the specific gravity of liquids rises 
so they must be looked upon as liquid foods rather 
than simple beverages. We might arrange liquid 
foods in a list having water, the simplest of all, at the 
bottom, and passing through tea, coffee, wine, beer, 
milk, and ending with turtle soup, which is little more 
than a solid in disguise, and is largely composed 



COFFEE AND TEA. 


3 


of liquid gelatine. When we wish food to produce a 
rapid effect we give it in a liquid form because as a 
rule it is more readily digested and absorbed. 

Articles of diet may not only be divided into solids 
and liquids, but they are capable of another division 
into two great classes of nourishments and luxuries. 

Of nourishing food, such as milk, meat, fat, sugar, 
bread and starch, I have nothing to say this evening, 
since the bodies which I have chosen for the subject 
of my lecture, belong distinctly to the class of luxuries; 
luxuries which the lower animals manage to do with¬ 
out, but for which man has a strange craving, so 
strange, so universal, that it is difficult to regard these 
so-called luxuries as other than necessaries of life. 

To the class of luxuries belong in the first place, 
wine and other alcoholic drinks. There is a large 
class, however, of non-alcoholic luxuries, bodies of 
small nutrient value, but which are in universal use by 
all nations, in almost every stage of civilization, and 
in all quarters of the globe. 

The non-alcoholic luxuries mostly contain alkaloids , 
crystallisable bodies capable of forming salts with 
acids, and capable of being separated by suitable 
means from the plants which contains them. These 
alkaloids are most potent bodies, and when given in 
their pure state exercise, even in very small doses, a 
powerful if not poisonous effect. It may perhaps give 
point to this remark if I recall to your minds the 
terribly potent Strychnine obtained from the seeds of 
Nux Vomica, Aconitine from Monkshood, Atropine 

B 2 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


4 

from Belladonna, Morphia from the Poppy and Quinine 
from Peruvian bark. 

These alkaloid-containing luxuries are used univer¬ 
sally. Tea , Coffee , Cocoa and Tobacco , are employed 
throughout the civilised world. The use of other 
bodies of this class is less familiar, but I may remind 
my hearers that Hashish made from Indian Hemp is 
consumed by nearly 300,000,000 of the human race as 
an intoxicant and narcotic. The use of Opium is at 
least as extensive as that of Hashish. Cuca and 
Guarana are largely employed in South America, to 
counteract fatigue. The chewing of Betel Nut is al¬ 
most universal among oriental nations, and the use of 
Mate or Paraguay tea is daily increasing throughout 
the Empire of Brazil. 

Now although many of these bodies are abused 
instead of being rationally used, and although we are 
very apt to become the slaves of one or other of them, 
it would be rash to conclude that they serve no use¬ 
ful purpose. 

The argument is often put forward that as tne 
lower animals do without them so ought we, but to this 
I would humbly oppose the fact that we are not lower 
animals, that we have minds as well as bodies , and 
that since these substances have the property in com¬ 
mon of enabling us to forget our worries and fatigues, 
to make light of misfortunes and generally to bear 
“ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." 
let us accept them, make rational use of them and be 
thankful. 


COFFEE AND TEA. 5 

I have said that most of these bodies contain al¬ 
kaloids, and I have stated also my belief that human 
appetites and human instincts tend in the main to 
guide us rightly. We know how in China millions 
took instinctively to the use of Tea. How Coffee 
became established as a daily article of diet in Persia, 
Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and then in Europe gene¬ 
rally. How when Cortes conquered Mexico he 
found the Emperor Montezuma and his subjects in 
the full enjoyment of Cocoa. Each of these three 
bodies, as well as Guarana made from the seeds 
of the Paullinia sorbilis, and Mate Tea made from 
the leaves of the Ilex Paraguayensis, contains an 
alkaloid which Chemists tell us is absolutely (or 
almost) identical and which has been variously styled 
Thein , Caffein , Theobromine or Guaranin according to 
its source of origin. Surely this is a fact calculated 
to excite our special wonder. 

This alkaloid which we will call caffein is a power¬ 
ful stimulant. Its chemical formula is C 8 H lo N 4 0 2 
and to this alkaloid, in its various disguises, the 
whole human race has turned for enjoyment and 
refreshment much as the magnet turns to the pole. 

The peculiar effects of Tea and Coffee are due to 
the alkaloid. These effects are of a refreshing char¬ 
acter. The circulation of the blood is increased. 
The elimination of C 0 2 by the lungs is heightened. 
The reflex excitability of the nerve centres is roused, 
thereby increasing the impressionability of the con¬ 
sumer, and great wakefulness results. Italso excitesthe 


6 COFFEE AND TEA. 

peristalsis of the intestines. Tea and Coffee then are 
stimulants, they rouse the tissues to increased action, 
make us insensible to fatigue, and enable us to do more 
work than we otherwise could. The differences be¬ 
tween these stimulants and alcoholic stimulants are 
worth noticing. Tea and Coffee keep us awake and 
attentive, and those who have taken either for the pur¬ 
poses of midnight study will know how under their in¬ 
fluence the receptive power of the brain seems to be at 
its maximum. They cause no mental “elevation ” and 
do not rouse the imaginative faculties as a glass of 
wine seems to do. They enable a man to work, 
and often rob him of sleep, and do not, like a glass of 
wine, tend to increase the power of sleep after the 
work has been accomplished. 

Tea and Coffee both contain the same alkaloid 
and their action is almost identical. Do they differ 
in any way, and if so how ? 

To answer this question I must invite your attention 
to the following analyses of Tea and Coffee.* 


° An analysis of Brazilian coffee by Professor Church, dated 
May loth, 1882, gives the following - results :— 


Water . 

11-22 

Oil and Fat. 

14-27 

Matters soluble in water . 

24-87 

Albuminoid. 

6-96 

Caffein. 

1 -18 

Ash. 

3 'Si 






COFFEE AND TEA. 


7 


Coffee (Payen). 

Water.12-000 ... 

Tea. 

11-49 

Cellulose. 

34-000 ... 

20-30 

Caffein. 

o-8oo ... 

i *35 

Nitrogenous matters excluding 



caffein.• 

13-000 ... 

21-22 

Non-nitrogenous matter . . 

15*500 ... 

23-88 

Tannic acid. 

5-000 ... 

12-36 

Fat, &c. 

13-000 ... 

3*62 

Volatile oil . 

0-003 ... 

0-67 

Ash. 

6-697 ... 

5 *n 


100-000 100-00 

Looking at these two analyses there are certain 
points which at once strike us. First in equal 
weights there is more alkaloid in Tea than in 
Coffee, and nearly times as much tannic acid. 

Coffee on the other hand contains four times as 
much fatty matter as Tea. 

The absolute analysis, however, as conducted in a 
chemical laboratory, is only a partial guide to the 
Dietetic value of an article. We, as consumers, are 
mainly interested in those matters which are soluble 
in water. 

Now Konig* estimates that in an infusion of Coffee 
we get 25*5 per cent, of the Coffee used, whereas in a 
infusion of Tea we get 33*64 of the Tea used, and 
that these per centages are thus constituted. 

Coffee. Tea. 

Alkaloid.i *74 ••• i *35 

Nitrogenous matter.9-44 

Non-nitrogenous matter | ^-il } — I 9 ’ 20 

Ash. 4 -o 6 ... jr6s 

25*50 33*64 

ft Die Menschlichen Nahrungs - und Genussmittel, Berlin, 1880. 

















8 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


It will be observed that the amount of alkaloid 
found in the tea infusion represents the total amount 
in the tea. The amount of alkaloid in the coffee 
infusion is rather more than double the total 
given in Payen’s analysis. Coffees, however, differ 
immensely in the amount of contained alkaloid, 
and this well marked discrepancy between the 
analyses of two chemists will serve to impress the 
fact of variability in quality very forcibly on the 
mind.* 

We have not yet exhausted this question of dietetic 
value as tested by analysis, and the most important 
question of all remains to be answered. What is the 
relative dietetic value of a cup of tea as compared 
with a cup of coffee ? 

Konig has attempted to answer this question. 
For making coffee infusion a much greater weight of 
material is used than in the case of tea. 

Konig assumes that to make what he calls a 
“ portion ” of coffee fifteen grams (a little over half 
an ounce) of coffee is used, and that of these fifteen 
grams, 3*82 are dissolved in the water. To make a 
“ portion ” of tea 5 grams are used, and of these 5 
grams, i*68 are dissolved in the water. 


0 According- to a statement emanating from Brazil (Le Br'esil 
a VExposition d’Amsterdam) the Brazilian Coffees are very rich 
in Caffeine, and from an analysis recently made by Ludwig of 
Vienna, the amount appears to vary from ri6 to 1-75 per 
cent. (See “Church’s Analysis,” p. 6). 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


9 


Cup of Coffee. 

Alkaloid . . . 0*26 grams; 

Oil.078 „ 

Non-nitrogenous 
matter ... 2-17 „ 

Ash.0*61 „ 

3’82 grams. 


Cup of Tea. 

Alkaloid . . . 0*07 grams. 

Proteid . . . 0'47 „ 

Non-nitrogenous 
matter . . . 0-96 „ 

Ash.0-18 ,, 

r68 grams. 


It would be rash to assume that these analyses 
are absolutely correct, but they are recent and they 
emanate from Germany which is par excellence the 
land of accuracy. 

It follows from these analyses that, supposing all 
the dissolved matter to be available for the needs of 
the body, the dietetic value of a cup of coffee is more 
than twice that of a cup of tea, and if we assume that 
the stimulating power is due to the contained alka¬ 
loid, then qua stimulant the cup of coffee has more 
than three times the value of the cup of tea. 

Further, Binz observes in the 3rd edition of his 
Elements of Therapeutics that “ the alkaloid which Tea 
contains appears to be less easily absorbed than that 
of Coffee owing to the very large quantity of tannic 
acid present.” 

The tannic acid in Tea is doubtless one of the 
causes why it is as a drink so attractive. It is 
slightly astringent and clean in the mouth, and does 
not “ cloy the palate,” an expression for which I can 
find no scientific equivalent. Tannic acid is also 
one of the dangers and drawbacks of tea. It is 
largely present in the common teas used by the poor. 
Now the rich man who wishes to avoid an excess of 
tannic acid in the “ cup that cheers ” does not allow 







10 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


the water to stand on the tea for more than five, or at 
most eight minutes, and the resulting beverage is 
aromatic, not too astringent and wholesome. The 
poor man or poor woman allows the tea to simmer 
on the hob for indefinite periods with the result that 
a highly astringent and unwholesome beverage is ob¬ 
tained. There can be no doubt that the habit of 
drinking excessive quantities of strong astringent tea 
is a not uncommon cause of that atonic dyspepsia, 
which seems to be the rule rather than the exception 
among poor women of the class of sempstresses. 

Tea more nearly approaches to a pure beverage 
than coffee does. Coffee makes a very slight ap¬ 
proach to the class of liquid foods. 

The specific gravity of a cup of good tea is about 
1003, and of a cup of good coffee about ioog. 

Excessive tea-drinkers are more common than ex¬ 
cessive coffee-drinkers, because the heavier coffee more 
easily produces satiety than the lighter tea, and it is 
not possible for ordinary stomachs to tolerate more than 
a certain amount of coffee, even when pure, and only 
a very small amount of the thick, sweet, adulterated 
stuff which too often passes for coffee in this country. 

Coffee then has a slight value as a nutriment, and a 
very high value as a stimulant; when mixed with 
boiling milk in the form of Cafe au Lait it forms the 
ideal of breakfast foods for body workers and brain 
workers, and a very small quantity of Black Coffee* 

* By “Black Coffee” is meant Coffee without milk. Genuine 
Coffee is not very black. An excessive black colour is given by 
means of burnt sugar, and is no sure indication of strength. 

V 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


II 


taken after a full meal, serves to stimulate the stom¬ 
ach to the necessary digestive effort, and to ward 
off that sleepiness which is often the attendant of 
satiety. 

Coffee should not be taken for the mere quenching 
of thirst when no food is required, and is too heavy 
for drinking as a mere luxury between meals ; but 
whenever extra work is demanded of the body, where 
is the spur at all equal to a cup of good coffee and a 
bit of bread ? 

That it is advisable to eat something whenever 
coffee is taken, seems to be an idea as old as the 
habit of Coffee-drinking itself, and Dufour a French 
writer of 1672 says, that there was a proverb among 
Orientals, to the effect, that “ If one had nothing else 
to eat before drinking Coffee it was advisable to swal¬ 
low a waistcoat button or else go without the Coffee 
altogether.” 

Tea is more of a pure beverage than Coffee, has 
less dietetic value and is less stimulating; it is more 
capable of being used as a pure luxury (it is indeed 
the Tobacco of women), but its great astringency is 
one reason which makes its excessive use highly un¬ 
desirable. 

So far we have dealt with Coffee and Tea collective¬ 
ly. I propose to devote the rest of the lecture to the 
consideration of Coffee, mainly because I believe that 
coffee is not properly understood in this country, and 
that there is a real need of instruction in the matter 
of this most valuable article of diet. 


12 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


I am glad to be honored by the attendance of 'the 
Ladies on this occasion, because it is a matter which 
concerns them. Brillat-Savarin, the witty author of 
the Physiologie du Gout , a work in which mirth and 
wisdom go hand in hand, lays down the rule in the 
19th Aphorism at the beginning of his book, that 
“ the mistress of the house ought always to take care 
that the Coffee is first rate, while the master should 
see that the wines are excellent.” 

Coffee as we know it, is the seed of a plant, the 
Coffea Arabica, belonging to the natural order Rubi- 
acese, to which order also belong madder, ipecacu¬ 
anha, cinchona, and the common weed known as 
cleavers or goose grass. 

The shrub is supposed to be indigenous to the 
Highlands, which border on the African coast of the 
Red Sea. Possibly the district called Kaffa to the 
South of Abyssinia, gives us a hint as to its origin. 
Hence it was imported into Arabia, to the hilly dis¬ 
tricts of Yemen or Arabia Felix. This is supposed 
to have been effected in the 14th century, from which 
time dates the importance of Mocha as a trading 
port. 

It may be assumed that the Coffee Plantations of 
Yemen increased until the yield served for export as 
well as for home consumption. In the 16th century 
mention is made of the consumption of Coffee by the 
Turks, and Lord Bacon among other writers alludes 
to it. The Coffee came by ships from Mocha to 
Suez and overland by caravans to Damascus and 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


13 


Aleppo, the total export from Mocha in the middle of 
the 17th century, being estimated by Dufour at about 
16,000 bales, weighing about 300 lbs. each, i.e. about 
2,150 tons. 

It was about 1650 that Coffee found its way to 
London. Its introduction to London is said to be 
due to a Mr. Daniel Edwards, a merchant from 
Smyrna, who brought over with him a Greek servant 
called Pasqua whom he subsequently established in a 
Coffee House. 

In the 21 st volume of the Philosophical Transactions 
(1698), is an account of Coffee, by a Mr. Houghton. 
He had some Coffee analysed, “ I sent to the chy- 
mist” he says “one pound of Clean Coffee, one 
pound of Husked Horse Beans, and one pound of 
Picked Wheat; and I received back :— 



Coffee. 

Horse Beans. 

Wheat. 


1 

3 3 

1 3 3 gr. 

1 

3 3 

Spirit (net) . . 

vi 

vi 0 

vi i 0 xii 

viiii ii i 

Oil. 

ii 

iv ii 

i iii 0 x 

i 

0 gr. vi 

Cap. Mort 

V 

iii 0 

v iii 0 0 

iv 

vi 


The above is interesting as an early attempt at the 
quantitative analysis of organic bodies, but its utility 
is small, and it is not enhanced by the instruction 
which is given to the reader, that “ by spirit is meant 
the phlegm.” 

Houghton mentions that the total imports of Coffee 
in his time was about 100 tuns, of which 70 were 
for home consumption, and he estimates the average 










14 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


market value at about £14 per hundredweight, (he 
says “tun” but that I take it, is an obvious error). 

For some time, Yemen in Arabia continued to be 
the only district in the world, whence Coffee was de¬ 
rived. Attempts to grow it elsewhere failed, and it 
was believed that the Arabians boiled or roasted the 
berries, before exportation, in order to prevent the 
possibility of its germinating elsewhere. Dufour, 
however, gives no credence to this tale and thinks 
that those who believe it “do not reflect on the ar¬ 
rangements of Providence, which, having given to 
each country the peculiar faculty of producing certain 
things, no human toil or care could avail to alter the 
order of nature.” 

Human toil and care have, however, at length over¬ 
come obstacles, which were supposed at first to be 
insurmountable, and Yemen ( i.e . “Mocha”) from 
being our sole source of Coffee, has now become (in 
so far as quantity is concerned) the least important. 

It was about the year 1700, that the Dutch suc¬ 
ceeded in growing Coffee in the island of Java, and 
hence the cultivation soon spread to the East and 
West Indies. 

In the present day— 


Brazil . . . . 

Guatemala ^ 
New Grenada | 
Caraccas 
Venezuela 1 
Mexico 

La Guayra j 


supplies about 350,000 tons. 


99 99 


100,000 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


15 


Java. 

supplies 

about 

105,000 

tons. 

St. Domingo. 

}} 

yy 

27,500 

yy 

Ceylon (formerly 45,000). 

)> 

yy 

17,000 

yy 

British India. 

)> 

yy 

20,000 

yy 

Costa Rica. 

)) 

yy 

14,000 

yy 

Manilla. 

)) 

yy 

9,000 

yy 

Jamaica, Cuba, Porto Rico 

>> 

yy 

13,500 

yy 

Mocha. 

}> 

yy 

3 .SQO 

yy 

Singapore ) 





Madagascar ' r. 

yy 

yy 

7.500 

yy 

West Coast of Africa J 






Total (roughly about) 667,000 Tons. 


The fruit of the Coffee tree is like a cherry, in 
which a soft fleshy pulp encloses two plano-convex 
seeds, placed with their flat sides in apposition. 

The pulp is got rid of, partly by fermentation and 
partly by mechanical means, and the seeds freed from 
the pulp and dried in the sun form the raw “ Coffee” 
of Commerce. 

Coffee varies in colour. A friend of mine in Min¬ 
cing Lane, has kindly supplied me with sixteen varie¬ 
ties of Coffee, and I have endeavoured to classify 
them according to colour. 

Price per 

cwt. 

160/- “Fine brown Java” . . . Light brown, uniform. 

40/- “ West Coast of Africa” . . Light brown, irregular in 

colour. 

70/- “ Liberian (Ceylon)” . . . Brown with faintest sus¬ 

picion of green. 

130/- “ Fine long berry Mocha” . Brown with faint tinge of 

green. 










COFFEE AND TEA. 


16 


Greenish brown. 
Dark greeny brown. 


ioo/- “ Ordinary Mocha” . . 

52/- “Manilla” 

54/- “ Good ordinary Santos ” 

60/- “ Good ordinary Java ” 

56/- “ Good ordinary Guatemala” 

130/- “Mysore” 

93/- “Neilgherry” 

70/- “ Good La Guayra ” 

92/- “ Fine Ceylon,” (lighter in colour) 

78/- “Medium Plantation (Ceylon)” 

70/- “Costa Rica” 

52/- “Good average Rio” . . . Brownish, 

blackish. 


Brown, with more green. 


Greenish. 


More distinctly 
green. 


greenish, 


Not only do coffee seeds vary in colour, but also in 
size. We may leave out of consideration Liberian 
coffee, which is much the biggest, and is the product 
of a distinct species of plant; the remaining fifteen 
sorts will fall into the following order, if arranged 
according to size, the biggest coming first:— 


No. of seeds in a unit measure 
holding so grams of water 


Fine brown Java . . . 

(about 2J 0z.) 

. 187 

160/- per cwt. 

Fine Mysore .... 

. 198 

130/- 

Fine Neilgherry . . . 

. 203 

93 /- „ 

Costa Rica. 

. 203 

70 /- „ 

Good ordinary Guatemala 

. 207 

56 /- „ 

Good La Guayra . . 

. 210 

70 /- 

Good average Santos 

. 213 

54 /- 

*Fine long berry Mocha 

. 217 

130/- 

*Good ordinary Java 

. 223 

60/- „ 

Fine Geylon Plantation 

. 225 

92 /- „ 

*Good average Rio . . 

. 236 

52 /- 








COFFEE AND TEA. 


17 


No. of seeds in a unit measure 
holding 50 grams of water 
(about a£ oz.) 

Medium Plantation (Ceylon) 238 ... 78/- per cwt. 


*Manilla.248 ... 52/- „ 

*Ordinary Mocha .... 270 ... 100/- „ 

* West African.313 ... 40/- „ 


Those sorts which are marked with an asterisk are 
irregular in size and colour, and have the appearance 
of being carelessly prepared ; and the reason why 
Rio, Manilla, and West African fetch the least money 
seems obvious enough. 

The high prices of the Mochas lead one to think 
that there is something in a name, but the light 
colour of the seeds indicates probably not only a very 
complete ripeness when gathered, but considerable 
age as well, and be it remembered that Coffee improves 
with age, and will continue to improve for fifteen or 
twenty years. The brown Java priced at 160/- has 
not only very fine seeds, but it has been six or seven 
years in the island. If Coffee be kept in a dry place 
it matures and improves. It loses water, gets lighter, 
and when roasted developes more aroma. The fact 
that Coffee can be stored in bulk for household use, 
and continues to improve with age should recommend 
it to the careful housewife. C’est Page qui fait le bon 
Cafe, says the writer of the monograph “ Le Bresil a 
TExposition Internationale d’Amsterdam.” 

We have accounted for the high price of the brown 
Java and the two Mochas, and for the low price of 
the Manilla, Rio, and West African. The nine that 
remain vary in price between 130/- and 54/-, and it is 


c 




i8 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


interesting to enquire why. In the following list they 
are arranged in order of value :— 


Mysore, 130/- . . . 

Weight of Unit. 

. 38 grams 

No. of Berries. 

I9S 

Neilgherry, 93/- . . 

. 38 „ 

203 

Fine Ceylon, 92/- . . 

. 38 „ 

225 

Medium Ceylon, 78/- . 

• 36 „ 

238 

Costa Rica, 70/- . . 

• 36 „ 

203 

La Guayra, 70/-. . . 

• 37 „ 

210 

Java, 60/-. 

• 37 „ 

223 

Guatemala, 56/- . . . 

• 35 „ 

207 

Santos, 54/- .... 

• 33 „ 

213 


In the above list the weight as well as the size of 
the berry is given. These coffees are all greenish in 
colour, and it is obvious that the size and weight of 
the berries are elements in determining the price. 
Nevertheless, we find that the Mysore and Neilgherry 
are practically identical in colour, weight, and size, 
and yet we find that the former is 37/- per cwt. dearer 
than the latter. This is a puzzle which it is difficult 
to solve. 

It need not be said that Coffees of different growth 
have qualities which are appreciable to the con- 
noisseur more readily than to the chemist. The 
nose and the palate will often determine a value 
which chemists would fail to fix. 

Cultivation, climate, mode of preparation, and age, 
are all factors which help in determining value. 
There are the same differences in coffees that there 
are in other kinds of fruit, between the wild crab 
apple, for instance, and the Newtown pippins ; and 








COFFEE AND TEA. 


19 


by the art of cultivation, the coffees of Java, the East 
Indies and Ceylon, and some of those from Central 
and South America, have become more than rivals 
for Mocha. If you will look at the coffees from Rio 
and the West Coast of Africa, and compare them 
with those from Mysore and the Neilgherrys, you will 
appreciate the value of careful preparation and tho¬ 
rough cleaning. 

If a coffee seed be examined more closely it will 
be observed that it is covered with little scaly par¬ 
ticles which adhere to it, pieces of the so-called testa. 
When cut into, the texture of the seed looks trans¬ 
lucent and horny. It is almost without aroma (cer¬ 
tainly without pleasant aroma), and it is tough and 
difficult 0 cut, pound, or grind. If examined under 
the microscope it is easy to see the characteristic 
long cells of the testa, while the body of the seed is 
composed of angular irregular cells with thick walls, 
and each cell contains a highly refracting globule of 
essential oil and some air. It is this essential oil 
which makes Coffee so popular, and it is from this 
that its fragrancy is developed. It is the caffeine 
and the essential oil which give Coffee its value and 
its popularity ; deprived of these the market value of 
Coffee would sink to the level of that of peas or 
beans, or indeed below it, for the nutritive as dis¬ 
tinguished from the stimulating value of Coffee, is 
small. 

We ought to be thankful to the man who dis¬ 
covered Coffee. This feeling has doubtless given 

c 2 


20 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


rise to the myths and tales in which its discovery is 
enveloped. The most often quoted tale is that which 
Dufour gives, and which he quotes from an account 
published in an Italian Journal in 1671, by Fausto 
Nairone, a Maronite Professor of Chaldseic and 
Syriac, at the College of Rome. 

“A keeper of camels, or according to others, of goats, 
complained to some neighbouring monks, that occa¬ 
sionally his beasts kept awake and disported themselves 
the whole night through. The Prior, who suspected 
the pasturage to be the cause, found that the animals 
had browsed on a certain shrub. Having made a 
decoction for himself and drank it, he too was de¬ 
prived of sleep, and then he bethought himself to give 
it to the monks in order to keep them awake during 
the religious services of the night, and this it did 
effectually; and when,” we are told, “the pious 
monks partook of it they never failed to pray for 
Sciadli and Aydrus, their two brethren to whom the 
happy discovery was attributed.” Poor monks ! un¬ 
happy Sciadli, martyred Aydrus, they are deserving of 
our prayers and pity, for it is not recorded that the 
Coffee of which they partook was previously roasted! 

If there be any here who have a desire to taste a 
decoction of raw coffee, let them “ o’er master it as 
they may,” for they may take my word for it, that it 
is a peculiarly filthy and nauseating mixture. 

Brillat-Savarin very justly observes, that our thanks 
are due, not so much to the first discoverer of Coffee, 
but rather to the first roaster of it, for it is the roasting 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


21 


that causes the development of its attractive qualities. 

We are all of us very familiar with the pheno¬ 
menon of the development of aromatic principles by 
roasting. The delicious aroma which arises from 
the leg of mutton or the bit of beef as it twirls before 
the fire, has stimulated the appetite of millions and 
the poetic faculties of not a few. England is the land 
of toast, i.e., of bread made crisp and slightly aro¬ 
matic by the process of roasting, and therefore the 
phenomenon of coffee roasting should strike us as 
“ no new thing.” 

Now when Coffee is roasted what happens to it ? 

1. It loses water. 

2. It loses weight—from 12 to 25 per cent., arid 
this loss of weight is more than can be accounted for 
by the loss of water. 

3. It swells, and therefore the specific gravity of 
each berry is much lessened. Raw Coffee sinks in 
water, while roasted Coffee floats. 

4. Changes colour, turning from yellowish or green¬ 
ish-grey to reddish-brown. 

5. From being very tough it becomes brittle so 
that it can easily be broken between the thumb and 
finger. 

6. After roasting the essential oil is no longer visi¬ 
ble in the cells. It has become diffused throughout 
the berry, the cells which originally contained it hav¬ 
ing been burst by the heat. 

Those who watch the process of roasting in an 
open vessel will notice the gradual change of colour; 


22 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


the copious steam which is given off, the sweating of 
the berries, and the pungent, peculiar, and not plea¬ 
sant smell which is given off, and which is decidedly 
irritating to the eyes. The Coffee pops and expands 
with a crackling noise, and if the roasting berries be 
blown upon, fine particles of the husk will fly away. 

As regards the quantitative changes, Payen ob¬ 
tained the following results :— 

Coffee roasted to a pale red lost 15 per cent, of weight, and 
gained 30 per cent, of bulk. 

Coffee roasted to a chestnut brown lost 20 per cent, of weight, 
and gained 53 per cent, of bulk. 

Coffee roasted to a dark brown lost 25 per cent, of weight, and 
gained (?) of bulk. 

My own experiments show that Coffee loses in 
roasting from 13 to 21 per cent, in weight. Mysore 
Coffee lost 14-3 per cent, of weight and gained 55 per 
cent, in bulk. 

Opinions differ as to whether the solubility of 
Coffee is increased by roasting, but the majority seem 
to think that it is. 

Some exact experiments quoted by Konig show 
that a particular sample of Coffee lost during roasting 
1777 per cent, of its weight, of which 9*11 was due 
to loss of organic matter, and 8*66 to loss of water. 

The sugary particles of Coffee are turned by roast¬ 
ing into caramel. The caffein is unchanged. An 
aromatic body called caffeone is developed as well as 
methylamine, which is pungent rather than aromatic. 

The analyses given by Konig, of raw and roasted 
Coffee, are as follows :— 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


23 


Coffee. 

Raw. Roasted. 

Nitrogenous matter (excluding caffein) . 8-43 12-05 

Caffein . . . . •.n8 1-38 

Fat .I3' 2 3 IS‘6 3 

Sugar.3-25 1-32 

Other non-nitrogenous bodies . . . .31-52 38-41 

Cellulose.27-72 24-27 

Ash • • • '•.3'48 375 

Water.11-19 3-19 


ioo-oo ioo-oo 

Soluble matter.27-44 27-45 


Practically the roasting of Coffee effects two im¬ 
portant changes. (1.) It developes the aroma. (2.) 
It renders it brittle and pulverizable. 

A great mystery is made of the roasting of Coffee. 
There is no mystery about it at all, and the only re¬ 
quisites are a bright smokeless fire, or gas or spirit 
flame, a suitable vessel, 15 or 20 minutes of time, 
and a little care and intelligence. The Coffee must 
not be slowly dried, and on the other hand must not 
be burnt. To prevent burning it must be constantly 
stirred. Coffee is commonly roasted in this country 
in rotating spheres or cylinders, and very convenient 
they are. I have made a great many experimental 
roastings for this lecture in an earthenware pipkin 
over a gas-flame, the Coffee being prevented from 
burning by being incessantly stirred with a spoon.* 
It need hardly be said that there is less risk of burn- 

0 The Coffee should be picked over before being roasted, and 
any black berries and foreign substances should be excluded. 















24 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


ing the Coffee in an earthenware than in a metal 
vessel, which may get nearly red hot, and that if the 
vessel be open and the Coffee exposed to view, it is 
easier to judge of the progress of the process. In 
Arabia, according to Mr. Palgrave, Coffee is invari¬ 
ably roasted in a large open iron ladle. The suffici¬ 
ency of the roasting is judged of: (i) by the colour, 
(2) by the smell, and (3) by the brittleness, it being 
possible to crush a well roasted coffee seed between 
the finger and thumb. Just after roasting, Coffee is 
at its best, and. there are few odours so deliciously 
aromatic as that of fresh roasted Coffee immediately 
after being powdered. 

From the moment of roasting Coffee begins to lose 
the aroma which the roasting process has developed. 
The aroma is due to a highly volatile body and this 
is quickly dissipated. 

Those who wish to enjoy really good Coffee must 
have it fresh roasted. On the continent, in every 
well regulated household, the daily supply of Coffee 
is roasted every morning. In England this is rarely 
done. There should be no difficulty about it, how¬ 
ever, and I feel sure that supply would create de¬ 
mand and vice versa. Why should not a dairyman 
combine coffee-roasting with his business, and leave 
at our doors with the morning milk a supply of fresh 
roasted Coffee for the day’s consumption. I feel sure 
it would prove a paying speculation to anyone who 
would take it up, and I throw out the suggestion to 
Dairymen generally, and particularly to that great 


COFFEE AND TEA. 25 

Dairy Company of which our distinguished chairman 
(Sir Henry Thompson) is one of the directors. 

If roasted Coffee has to be kept, it must be kept in 
an air-tight vessel. In France, Coffee used to be kept 
in a wrapper of waxed leather, which was always 
closely tied over the contained Coffee. In this way 
the Coffee was kept from contact with any air. 

The Viennese say that Coffee should be kept in a 
glass bottle closed with a bung and that Coffee should 
on no account be kept in a tin canister. 

The Coffee having been roasted it has to be re¬ 
duced to a coarse powder before the infusion is made. 
The grinding and powdering of Coffee should be done 
just before it is wanted, for if the whole coffee seeds 
quickly lose their aroma, how much more quickly will 
the aroma be dissipated from Coffee which has been 
reduced to a fine powder ? Nothing need be said in 
the matter of Coffee mills. They are common enough, 
varied enough and cheap enough, to suit all tastes. 
Thomas Garaway, the proprietor of Garaway’s Coffee 
House in Exchange Ally, states in an advertisement 
towards the end of the 17th century, that “ Nicholas 
Brooke living at the sign of the Frying Pan in St. 
Tube’s Street (Tooley Street) against the Church is 
the only man for making of mills for grinding coffee 
powder, which mills are by him sold from 40 to 45 
shillings the mill.” 

Brillat-Savarin, the prince of epicures, gives some 
curious facts anent the grinding of Coffee. He says, 
“ the Turks use no mill for grinding Coffee, but pound 


26 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


it in a mortar with wooden pestles, and a pestle and 
mortar which has been used for this purpose for a 
long time becomes valuable and fetches a good price, 
I have tried to prove whether these two methods of 
powdering Coffee produce different results and which 
of these is the best. I carefully roasted a pound of 
good Mocha and divided it into halves of which one 
was ground and the other pounded. To equal weights 
of the resulting powdered Coffee I added equal mea¬ 
sures of boiling water treating both lots in identical 
manners. This Coffee was tasted by myself as well 
as by many renowned epicures and the unanimous 
opinion was that the beverage made from the coffee 
which had been pounded in the mortar was decidedly 
the best. Anybody may repeat the experiment.” 

The next point with which we have to deal is most 
important, viz., the making of coffee. To insure a’really 
good cup of Coffee attention must be given to the fol¬ 
lowing points. 

1. Be sure that the Coffee is good in quality, fresh 
roasted and fresh ground. 

2. Use sufficient Coffee. I have made some experi¬ 
ments on this point, and I have come to the conclu¬ 
sions, that i ounce of Coffee to a pint of water makes 
poor Coffee, ij ounce of Coffee to a pint of water 
makes fairly good Coffee, 2 ounces of Coffee to a pint 
of water makes excellent Coffee. 

3. As to the form of Coffee pot, I have nothing to say. 
The varieties of Coffee machines are very numerous and 
many of them are useless encumbrances. At the best 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


27 

they cannot be regarded as absolutely necessary. 
The Brazilians insist that Coffee pots should on no 
account be made of metal, but that porcelain or earth¬ 
enware is alone permissible.* I have been in the 
habit of late of having my Coffee made in a common 
jug provided with a strainer, and I believe there is 
nothing better. 

4. Warm the jug, put the Coffee into it, boil the 
water and pour the boiling water on the Coffee and 
the thing is done. 

5. Coffee must not be boiled, or at most it must be 
allowed just to “ come to the boil” as cook says. If 
violent ebullition takes place the aroma of the Coffee 
is dissipated and the beverage is spoiled. 

The most economical way of making Coffee is to 
put the Coffee into a jug and pour cold water upon it. 
This should be done some hours before the Coffee is 
wanted, overnight for instance, if the Coffee be re¬ 
quired for breakfast. The light particles of Coffee 
will imbibe the water and fall to the bottom of the jug 
in course of time. When the Coffee is to be used, 
stand the jug in a saucepan of water or a bain-marie, 
( i.e . is in a water-bath as a chemist would say) and 
place the outer vessel over the fire till the water con- 

0 There seems a concurrence of opinion that it is undesirable 
to allow Coffee and Metal to come in contact. Brillat-Savarin 
prefers a mortar to a mill for grinding; the Viennese prefer a 
a bottle to a canister for storing; and the Brazilians use an earth¬ 
enware in preference to a metal pot for making. I have shown 
that roasting can be effected in an earthenware pipkin and have 
given some reasons why it is preferable to an iron vessel. 


28 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


tained in it boils. The coffee in this way is gently 
brought to the boiling point without violent ebulli¬ 
tion and we get the maximum extract without any loss 
of aroma. 

Some writers recommend that in order to get the 
maximum extract, the grounds of yesterday should be 
thoroughly boiled and this boiling decoction be poured 
on fresh Coffee in order to make the beverage of to¬ 
day. This method is cumbersome and has not in my 
hands yielded results in any way commensurate with 
the trouble.* 

Always make your Coffee strong. Cafe an Lait is 
much better if made with \ strong coffee and f milk, 
than if made half and half with a weaker Coffee, this is 
evident. If Coffee is taken “ black ” after dinner let 
it be little and good. 

In order to test the value of different methods I have taken the 
specific gravity of various infusions, with the following results : — 

i oz. of Coffee to a pint of water gives an infusion having a 
specific gravity of ioo$'$ and when the water had been boiled on 
the grounds of the previous day the specific gravity was scarcely 
1006. 

When 1^ oz. to a pint were used and the Coffee was made by 
simple infusion there was a very slight increase of specific 
gravity although the Coffee was stronger in the mouth. The 
specific gravity was 1006 only. 

When i^oz. to a pint were employed and the Coffee was mixed 
with cold water over night the specific gravity of the liquid rose 
to 1009. 

When 2 oz. to the pint were used and the Coffee made as above, 
the specific gravity was scarcely increased although the Coffee 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


29 


If the Coffee used be genuine and it be made as I 
have directed there will be no trouble with the 
“grounds” and no strainer is necessary. Coffee is a 
hard gritty material and the individual particles of 
the Coffee powder which at first float on the water 
fall after a time to the bottom of the pot and leave the 
infusion clear. It is a mistake to suppose that Coffee 
cannot be made without a great deal of costly and 
cumbersome apparatus and it is well that the labour¬ 
ing classes and particularly soldiers and volunteers 
should remember the following facts. 

1. That raw Coffee does not deteriorate but myrows 
by being kept in a dry place. 

2. That it is quite easy to roast Coffee in a small 
frying pan or a pipkin or any suitable vessel. 

3. That it can be powdered perfectly well without 
a mill. 

4. That it can be made perfectly well in any vessel 
which will hold water. 

I remember during the Crimean War an out-cry 
that our troops were supplied with raw Coffee. This 
was shameful, but it is evident that a little knowledge 

was stronger to the taste. It must be remembered that the oil 
and fat in Coffee has a specific gravity less than water and that 
an increase of these ingredients would diminish the specific 
gravity of the resulting liquid just as cream diminishes the 
specific gravity of Milk. 

Cafe au Lait made with Coffee infusion of 1009 (about half 
Coffee and half milk) and sweetened with two knobs of sugar 
to the breakfast cup had a specific gravity of 1035. 


30 COFFEE AND TEA. 

of how to use the raw Coffee would have converted a 
hardship into a blessing and that the troops would 
have had Coffee of a quality , which they could not get 
at home. 

I have nothing to say against Coffee machines, 
Coffee mills and Coffee roasters. They are undoubted 
conveniences and save time, and some of the machines 
for making small quantities of Coffee at short notice 
are exceedingly handy and convenient. Most of the 
complicated filters are wholly unnecessary if pure 
Coffee be used. They become indispensable if adul¬ 
terated Coffee be used. If Coffee be mixed with 
chicory, dandelion root, roasted acorns, roasted cab¬ 
bage stumps, roasted figs or dates, or any other form 
of vegetable offal, which on boiling disintegrates and 
yields a thick soupy liquid, then ingenious filters are 
in requisition and the cook runs to the mistress for 
eggs to “fine the Coffee” which in the end is a 
starchy, albuminous, sugary soup, a very second rate 
food and in no sense the refreshing beverage which 
coffee should be. 

When I was a student in Vienna my Cafe au Lait 
in the morning was in striking contrast to the so- 
called “Coffee” which I had had in students lodgings 
in London. I certainly had never tasted such good 
Coffee before and hardly ever since. Its mode of pre¬ 
paration was simple enough, for I asked Frau Kling 
to let me see her make it, which she did by pouring 
boiling water on the Coffee contained in a common 
brown earthenware jug. 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


31 


In no part of the world, I believe, can one get such 
good coffee as in Vienna and in Austria generally. 
The reason for this is not quite clear. The Coffee 
used, is largely that grown in Ceylon and in the East 
Indies, and the modes of preparation are simple. 
Coffee roasting is throughout Austria one of the 
regular household duties, it need not be said. Per¬ 
haps the quality of the water has something to do 
with the quality of the Coffee. 

The reputation of Paris as a city of good Coffee, is 
on the wane, and “ French Coffee” is now often an¬ 
other name for chicory mixture. 

Dufour, whom I have quoted more than once be¬ 
fore, gives definite directions as to the way of drink¬ 
ing Coffee. He says, “ Coffee should not be quaffed 
but rather sipped as hot as possible. To avoid being 
scalded, you must not put your tongue in the cup 
but hold the edge of the cup between the tongue and 
lower lip below and the upper lip above, and then sip 
the Coffee swallowing gulp by gulp.” He further 
says, 11 take care not to use the Coffee for a second 
infusion, by adding more water to the grounds, as 
many do through ignorance or stinginess. The 
Coffee must be used once only, for the first decoc¬ 
tion removes all its virtue. It is a mistake to stir 
the Coffee in the pot, and the grounds are worthless, 
for in the Levant, it is only the dregs of the people 
who swallow the dregs of their Coffee.” 

“ How much ought I to give for my Coffee ?” is a 
question which the careful housekeeper very often 


32 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


puts to herself. I have Coffees on the table which 
range in price from 160 to 40 shillings per cwt., so 
we see that in the raw state and in bond, the value of 
Coffees varies enormously. The cheap Coffees are 
rank and queer tasted, and scarcely such as one 
would care to buy, and they often contain bad berries 
which leaven the whole lump. The very dear Coffees 
are only for connoisseurs and for mixing. Good 
Coffee is to be got for the mean price, 80 shillings 
per cwt., and if Coffee costs 80 shillings raw and in 
bond, how much will it cost to the consumer roasted 
and ground. The duty is 14 shillings per cwt., so 
that the 80 becomes 94 when the duty is paid ; next 
we must allow at least 15 per cent, for loss in roasting, 
which adds another 12 shillings to the cost, making 
106 shillings. In estimating the profits of the vari¬ 
ous persons through whose hands the Coffee passes, 
(merchant, broker, dealer, wholesale grocer, and 
grocer), we are only able to speculate, but I think I 
am not wrong in saying that the 80 shilling Coffee 
will cost the consumer about 15. 2 d. per lb. 

The following figures, which are taken from a 
printed card issued by a leading firm of Tea and 
Coffee dealers, show the price per pound for which 
wholesale grocers are able to sell Coffees, which cost 
a certain sum raw. 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


33 


Coffee. 


Raw per cwt. 

Roasted per lb, d 
(14s. per cwt.) incl' 

S. 

d. 

S. 

d. 

38 

0 

O 

7i 

52 

0 

O 

9 

60 

0 

O 

10 

69 

0 

0 


79 

0 

I 

O* 

89 

0 

I 

If 

97 

6 

I 

3 

113 

0 

I 

5 

120 

6 

I 

6 

130 

0 

I 

7 i 

*39 

6 

I 

*h 


At one time and another Coffee has met with a 
good deal of opposition. “Its peculiar properties” 
says Mr. James Paton in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 
“of dissipating drowsiness and preventing sleep, was 
taken advantage of in connection with the prolonged 
religious services of the Mahometans, and its use as 
a devotional antisoporific, stirred up a fierce opposi¬ 
tion on the part of the strictly orthodox and conser¬ 
vative section of the priests. Coffee was by them 
held to be an intoxicant beverage, and therefore pro¬ 
hibited by the Koran ; and the dreadful penalties of 
an outraged sacred law, was held over the heads of 
all who became addicted to its use.” Notwithstand¬ 
ing this, its use quickly spread in Arabia, but when 
the habit of Coffee drinking reached Constantinople 
in the 16th century, it again caused considerable 
commotion, among the ecclesiastical public. The 

D 


34 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


popularity of the Coffee houses had a depressing in¬ 
fluence on the attendance at the Mosques, and on 
that account a fierce hostility was excited amongst 
the religious orders against the new beverage. 

In this country, Charles II. in 1675 attempted to 
suppress Coffee houses by a royal proclamation, in 
which it was stated that they were the resorts of dis¬ 
affected persons ; and in 1674 a “ Petition against 
Coffee ” was set on foot by persons engaged, in what 
is now known as the “ liquor traffick,” in which the 
dangerous rival drink was spoken of as “ a base, 
black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking, puddle water.” 

In spite of opposition, the use of Coffee continued 
to increase, and at the present time— 


Holland consumes 
Denmark „ 

Belgium „ 

Norway „ 

United States „ 
Switzerland „ 

Germany „ 

France „ 

Austria ,, 

Greece „ 

Italy 

United Kingdom „ 


2 roo lb. of Coffee per head of population. 

13*89 

13-48 

9-80 „ 

7-61 
7-03 
S-oo 
2-73 

2-13 

i -42 

TOO „ „ 

o-94 


This is a remarkable table and it will be interest¬ 
ing to enquire why it is that Great Britain, which 
does the carrying for the world, whose intercourse 
with the East is daily and hourly, whose tropical 




COFFEE AND TEA. 


35 


colonies grow Coffee in abundance, and whose oppor¬ 
tunities for obtaining good Coffee are unequalled, 
consumes less Coffee per head of population than any 
other civilized country in the world ? 

A * reference to the chart facing the title-page 
will show that, during the past thirty years the con¬ 
sumption of Coffee has steadily decreased, and that 
too in spite of a lessening of the duty to one half, 
and of enormous increase of population, and in spite of 
the increased demand for non-alcoholic drinks and the 
opening of so-called Coffee Taverns in great numbers 
throughout the country. Whereas the consumption 
of Coffee amounted to i lb. 6 oz. of Coffee per head of 
population in 1854, it is now only 15 oz. per head. On 
the other hand, the consumption of Tea which was only 
2 lb. per head in 1852, is now as much as 4 lb. 9 oz. 
per head. When we remember that a pound of tea 
will make about three times as much beverage as a 
pound of Coffee, we must come to the conclusion that 
for every cup of Coffee consumed in this country, 
between fourteen and fifteen cups of Tea are drank. 
Tea is the most popular beverage undoubtedly; but 
yet the grocers’ windows are full of Coffee (mainly in 
canisters it is true), Coffee is found on the major¬ 
ity of breakfast tables, and at temperance meetings 
“Coffee” is one of the staples of conversation. It is 
impossible to believe that the use of Coffee of some 
kind or another, is on the decrease, and we must stop 
to enquire, why it is that the customs returns un¬ 
doubtedly show a diminution in the use of real Coffee. 


3& 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


The true reason, is undoubtedly to be found in the 
wholesale adulteration of Coffee, which is systemati¬ 
cally encouraged by the government. 

In the year 1851, when the Lancet started its “Ana¬ 
lytical Sanitary Commission,” the commissioner be¬ 
ing Dr. Arthur Hill Hassall, it was found that out of 
fifty-four samples of Coffee purchased at various 
establishments, only three were genuine : and in the 
year 1882, out of thirty-seven samples of Coffee, ana¬ 
lysed by Messrs. Wigner and Harland at the request 
of Mr. H. Pasteur, only two were genuine. Taking 
these two results together, we find that five lots of 
genuine Coffee have been found out of ninety-one 
samples purchased ; so that if you go into a shop 
and ask for ground Coffee, the odds seem to be 18 
to 1 against your getting it. Some samples sold 
under the name of Coffee, contained as little as 7 per 
cent, of the genuine article some as much as 50 or 60 
per cent., the balance being composed of chicory root, 
dandelion root, dates, “finings,” roasted acorns, 
roasted corn, beans, potatoes, beet-root, and cab¬ 
bage stumps. 

That is, Coffee which has a retail market value of 
about I4d. a lb., is habitually adulterated with matter 
of which the maximum retail price is 3^d. If you give 
I4d. for a pound of Coffee, the profit per lb. to the 
grocer is probably about 2d. if the article be genuine, 
but more than three times as much if it be half chi¬ 
cory. Most grocers prefer a profit of 40 per cent, to 
a modest 10 per cent., and this is the real reason why 


COFFEE AND TEA. 37 

chicory and other “substitutes” are foisted on the 
public, at the price of Coffee. 

During the five years 1872—76, the amount of duty 
paid at the customs house on chicory amounted to 
£315,512 and during the five years 1877—81 to 
£353,1:93. What was the amount of tax on home 
grown chicory I do not know, but the figures show 
that in the second period of five years the increase in 
the importation of chicory amounted to over 12 per 
cent., while during the same period the duty paid on 
Coffee for home consumption showed an increase of 
only 1 per cent. These figures probably only give a 
faint idea of the increase of consumption of coffee 
substitutes, for chicory has become the least of these. 
The history of the Date Coffee Company is well 
known and the amount of Date Coffee consumed dur¬ 
ing the period of its existence must have been enor¬ 
mous. In Jersey, they are said to be making their 
fine cabbage stalks into Coffee instead of walking 
sticks, and the other day I heard of a wholesale 
grocer, a most respectable man, who took his hat off 
to the dandelion as his best friend. 

But, I hear somebody say, “Chicory is not an 
adulteration, for Mr. Gladstone says soand it is 
quite true that in his Budget Speech for 1882, the 
following words fell from the lips of that eminent 
statesman :— 

“At present every description of admixture with 
coffee is permitted, and we have long proceeded on 
the principle that the admixture of chicory with coffee 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


38 

was not an adulteration, that it was an admixture 
rooted in the habits of many countries, and that 
people would not drink coffee without it. But of late 
a practice has grown up of producing all kinds of 
substitutes under the name of coffee, and that, I can¬ 
not but think, must in some degree account for the 
strange and singular state of the figures that I have 
laid before the Committee. We shall not attempt 
to interfere with the admixture of chicory with cof¬ 
fee, but we propose that it should not be allowed 
to introduce other miscellaneous admixtures with 
coffee.” 

Accordingly, by Act of Parliament, chicory was as 
it were called to the Upper House, and coffee and 
chicory in the eyes of Mr. Gladstone and the Right 
Hon. Joseph Chamberlain are now convertible terms, 
so that a new word seems necessary for the brown 
powders which are sold in shops for breakfast bever¬ 
ages. As for coffee adulterants, other than chicory, 
they are now obliged to be sold in packets bearing ex¬ 
cise labels. They have been raised to the dignity of 
patent medicines, and always wear a government 
badge in public. 

Now chicory was called to the Upper House on 
Aug. 14th, 1882, and on the following day a minute 
was issued by the Board of Customs for the instruc¬ 
tion of their officers, in which the following clause 
occurs : 

“ As dandelion root is very cognate to, and not 
easily distinguishable from that of chicory 


COFFEE AND TEA, 


39 


the officers will not on their own responsibi¬ 
lity attempt to distinguish these roots, but 
will regard them all as chicory.” 

So we must imitate our friend the grocer and take 
off our hats to the dandelion, as he takes rank 
along side of the old aristocrat Coffee and that 
Parvenu Chicory. It is very difficult to see what 
has been the object of the government in these 
regulations. My own belief is that from every 
point of view, moral, financial and dietetic, they are 
a mistake. 

I have shown that the dietetic value and the 
market value of Coffee are due to the alkaloid and 
the essential oil which give it its refreshing, aromatic 
and stimulating qualities. Chicory and dandelion 
contain neither alkaloids nor essential oils. They 
have none of the qualities of Coffee, but they 
contain a certain amount of starchy and sugary 
matter which gives “body” and (when roasted) 
colour to water. They serve to make hot water black 
and thick and bitter, and hence give a spurious idea 
of strength to coffee in the eyes of those who have 
never had an opportunity of finding out what coffee 
is. To the uneducated palate chicory and other 
roasted rubbish may serve as a substitute for coffee. 
In the stomach it is no substitute; it has no stimu¬ 
lating effect, and will not help to keep a man awake 
unless it happen to give him the stomachache, which 
is not unlikely, since chicory and dandelion are both 


4 o 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


mildly purgative, and are both apt to cause flatulent 
dyspepsia.* 

I have very little right to speak of the effects of 
dandelion and chicory because I dislike them, and I 
am certainly not one of those in whose habits the use 
of chicory is “ deeply rooted.” I have the authority 
of Dr. Pereira for stating that u where the digestive 
organs are Weak, and readily disordered, taraxacum 
( i.e. dandelion) is very apt to occasion dyspepsia, 
flatulency, pain, and diarrhoea,” and with regard to 
chicory he says, that “ its protracted use is said to 
injure digestion.” 

But chicory is as much adulterated as Coffee itself. 
Pereira says (.Materia Medica , vol. ii., part ii., p. 41) 
“To colour it, Venetian red, and perhaps redjlle^are 
used. The former is sometimes mixed with the lard 
before this is introduced into the roasting machine, at 
other times it is added to the chicory during the pro¬ 
cess of grinding.” Roasted pulse (peas, beans and lu¬ 
pines), corn (rye and damaged wheat), roots (parsnips 
carrots, and mangel wurzel), bark (oak-bark tan), wood 
dust (logwood and mahogany dust), seeds (acorns and 
horse-chestnuts), the mark of coffee, coffee husks 
(called coffee flights ), burnt sugar, baked bread, dog 
biscuit, and the baked livers of horses and bullocks (!) 
are substances vvhich are said to have been used for 
adulterating chicory.” 

Chicory when made into an infusion (2 oz. to a pint) has a 
specific gravity of 1023, and two “coffee” mixtures were found to 
yield infusions of 1022 and 1021. A high specific gravity is 
therefore evidence of adulteration. 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


41 


The motto of the chicory roaster seems to be “ dry 
rubbish may be shot here,” and I am bound to say 
that the dietetic value of many of the articles men¬ 
tioned must be fully equal to that of chicory proper. 

The putting of Coffee and chicory on an equality is 
indeed placing the gentleman with the beggar, and 
seems to be an application to vegetables of the 
dogma that “all men are equal.” The root which 
grows in the damp earth of northern climates as the 
commonest of common weeds, cannot be expected to 
equal the berry which has been ripened in the full 
blaze of a tropical sun. One might as well say that 
the common gourd is equal to the pine-apple, or that 
three-pence is worth a shilling. 

The presence of chicory in coffee mixtures is 
judged of by the smell and taste. The sediment 
in the cup is soft and pulpy. The specific gravity 
of the resulting beverage is higher. 

If chicory be thrown on the surface of cold water 
it colours the water more deeply and quickly than 
Coffee does, and sinks far more readily to the bottom 
of the cup. 

The presence of sugar in many coffee mixtures 
may be very readily detected by Fehling’s test, and 
the microscope serves to show the peculiar minute 
structure of the coffee berry on the one hand, and of 
chicory on the other. 

What we have practically to take to heart is this, 
that in the present state of the law those who want 
their coffee pure must buy it whole and grind it for 


42 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


themselves, and those who want to have coffee really 
good must buy it raw and roast it and grind it for 
themselves. 

If for reasons of taste, or fancy, or economy, people 
wish for “chicory” with their coffee, they will do 
well to buy the two things separately and mix them, 
and a saving of money will certainly be effected by 
pursuing that course. It is true that the fact of 
“Coffee” being a mixture must be stated on the 
wrapper, but there is no obligation to put the pro¬ 
portion of the mixture, and a grocer is quite within 
the law if he sell you a pound of “ Coffee ” composed 
of i oz. of coffee and 15 o z. of chicory, provided the 
fact of admixture is somewhere concealed upon the 
wrapper. 

There is no doubt whatever that the present state 
of the law leads to the wholesale cheating of the 
working classes. It is to be hoped that those who 
have striven so hard to give the labouring man what 
is called a “free breakfast table,” will make some 
honest endeavour to free it from adulterations, and 
cease to put in the way of tradesmen the legalised 
temptation of giving a totally inadequate value for 
the poor man’s pence. 

The countenancing of these admixtures is dis¬ 
tinctly antagonistic to the spirit of the Adulteration 
Act, and surely it should be the main principle of all 
legislation to encourage the honest man, rather than 
to give opportunities to the rogue. 

In the general order issued by the Board of Inland 


COFFEE AND TEA. 43 

Revenue, on August 14th, 1882, there occurs this 
clause: 

“ E. Every packet containing, or purporting to 
contain, coffee with any other article or 
substance mixed therewith, shall have af¬ 
fixed thereto a label denoting in letters of not 
less size than the largest letters affixed to, or 
imprinted on, such label, the proper names 
of the several articles of which such mixture 
is composed.” (N.B. There is no obliga¬ 
tion to state the proportions).* 

This regulation apparently does not apply to chi¬ 
cory, for I have before me three (and might have had 
many more) canisters in which the word COFFEE 
stares one in the face and the word chicory is obviously 
concealed. 

Now Tea has been very stringently protected from 
adulteration by a special clause in the Adulteration 
Act (Clause 30) which came into force on January 1st, 
1876. All Tea that passes through the Custom House 
is now inspected, and if need be analysed, and no ad¬ 
mixture of foreign articles or exhausted Tea is per¬ 
mitted. This has had no effect in checking the use 
of Tea, while the use of Coffee is steadily declining 
notwithstanding that the duty on Coffee was reduced 

0 There is upon the table a very decent imitation of “ Coffee ” 
which I have made myself. It consists of a mixture of 50 parts 
of roasted beetroot, carrot, cabbage and rice; 25 parts of 
chicory and 25 parts of Brazilian Coffee. 


44 


COFFEE AND TEA. 


from 3 d. to i \d. in 1873 while the duty on Tea has 
remained at 6 d. since 1866. 

I cannot help thinking that it would be wise to 
attempt a policy with regard to Coffee similar to that 
which has proved so successful with regard to Tea. 
Honesty is the best policy, and I believe the Chan¬ 
cellor of the Exchequer would find it so. At all events 
nothing can be more disastrous (financially) than the 
present policy with regard to Coffee. 

Here is work which the temperance party might 
well take in hand. They are a powerful body and 
they would do great good if they would help the work¬ 
ing classes to a cup of real Coffee. I firmly believe 
that if a man, under the influence of mental or physi¬ 
cal exhaustion, were offered a glass of gin or a cup of 
real Coffee he would unhesitatingly choose the latter, 
if he were aware of the marvellously stimulating effect 
which real Coffee has. The drunkard who is gene¬ 
rally a diseased person, having a craving for stimulants 
of which healthy people are entirely ignorant, will 
never be weaned from spirits until a less harmful 
stimulant is offered in its place. When I can step into 
a Coffee-Tavern and get a really first rate cup of stimu¬ 
lating Coffee and not an insipid mess then I shall 
believe in the chances of a permanent establishment 
of temperate habits among the masses of the People. 


Printed by H. K. Lewis, 136 Gower Street, London. 




Pounds of Coffee \ 
Consumed in each. year I 


PoputatLorv-- 


YEAR 

37 , 000,000 

36 , 000,000 

34 -, 000,000 
33 / 300,000 
32 , 000,000 
31 , 000,000 
30 , 000,000 
29 , 000,000 
28 , 000,000 
22 , 000.000 


Average- price of 


r erage j 
CeyLoru 


Coffee 


Duty -per 
Pound weight' 


JPenco 4 

3 - 

, n f? 


*0 ^ >0 l| 5 ‘o ^ ^ ^ ^ \0 ^ KNlSlS^KlNCoCO 

ODOD ^COCOCCCOOCCOCOCO^ ^ *0 Cc 0o ^ Co c 9<£>$& c O°OSD&CoSOCoco. 

cK 3 o/v 1 . per Cyvt. 

9 t ;, „ „ 

89 
81 
86 
83- 
SI 


. PopuI/xhAji r 


79 
77 
76 
73 

77 - >r r ; , 

69 /> ftp 
67 
66 
63 

61 ”nS 

>- 

cS- 

ft. 


SQ 

n Oj’> 
"1” 


( Pounds of Coffee 
| Consumed~nu each year 


59 „ P„ „ f Average price of 


57 

55 .. 

53 ;; ^/; ,,- 

51 P/7 ;; 

79 „ 

47 „ » 7 > 

76 „ „ „ 

^3 » „ ;j 


I Coyhrv Coffee. 


4 Pence 
3 „ 


dhoby per 
Pound, weight. 


Scheme Showing the State of the Coffee Trade for the 30 Yea 


Published, by H.K.Lewis, 136. Gower Street, London 6888, 


rs 1852—81 .Compiled 


from M R H. Pasteur's Tables. 



























































































































































































library 


OF 


CONGRESS 














































